A Redwall story about Gonff the Prince of Mousethieves

Gonff, Prince of Mousethieves

The door to the Abbess's study opened, and a tiny mousemaid peeped around the corner at the Abbess, who smiled at the Dibbun. The mouse scurried over and jumped up into the huge chair the Abbess was seated in.

"You said you would tell me a story," the mousemaid said as she settled down in the chair.

The Abbess nodded. "I did tell you that, didn't I." It was not a question, but a statement. "All right, I have a story that should interest you."

Captain Oloe the sea rat stood at the wheel of his ship, the Seafoam, and sighed with restlessness. The day was going well for him so far. There had been no uprisings from his slaves, and no mutiny from his crew beasts, so he had not had to kill anyone yet today. He was not content, however, as he stared out to sea. It had been too long since he had gone on a raid. He enjoyed raids, as they usually brought him slaves, food and supplies. He also enjoyed the feeling of power he gained from it. Sailing on the open seas was entertaining, but he was growing nostalgic for a nice raid through some dull peaceful land occupied by naive woodland creatures. He called out for his first mate and almost immediately the ferret came to him, panting and grunting as he hurried to meet his captain. The ferret had seen what could happen to any slave or even a crewmember that followed the captain's orders too slow. Captain Oloe remained turned out towards the sea and addressed his first mate casually.

"Floptail, what would you say to going for a nice little raid somewhere, eh? A nice country full of peaceful, ignorant woodlanders with piles of delicious food?"

Floptail was excited by the proposition, but he knew better than to reply too hastily. He thought for a moment. "Aye, sir, that sounds like a good idea."

His captain continued talking, his tone lazy and relaxed. "I thought you would think that. Now, how about if you go back to your post and keep a look out to tell me when you spot some good land? I'll give you one hour."

The ferret was about to protest. He knew that out in the sea it could take days to find land, not hours. To find somewhere suitable for a raid was even harder. "But captain---"

The sea rat turned on his first mate, his tone now vicious, his voice full of malice. "Did you have something to say?" he asked in a deadly soft voice.

Floptail shook his head wildly. "No sir, I---"

Captain Oloe silenced him by drawing his blade and pressing it against Floptail's throat faster than the ferret could blink. "Good. Now I advise you to go back to your post. I hear your hour ticking away." The sea rat smiled as he watched the ferret scramble frantically back to his post. It was good to have total control and power.

A fine breeze swept through the trees on the outskirts of the meadow, where many Redwallers were gathered, picking berries of all sorts from the bushes that grew near the trees. The weather had been perfect hours before, but now the sun was starting to feel intense on the backs of some of the creatures, and none more so than one restless young Dibbun. Gonflet the young mouse ran over to his mother, nearly knocking her over.

"Mama, I want to pick berries over on the other side of the river, where it's cooler. Can you take me, please, please?"

His mother Columbine straightened up. "All right, you young rascal. At least you're asking instead of running right over there. Since you were good, I'll take you, but we can't stay for long. I want to be home when your father gets back from visiting with the otters." She suddenly burst out laughing at the silly face her son was making at her. "Your face is going to stick like that forever, you know." She scolded him. "She laughed again. "You're exactly like your father, except you don't pinch quite as many pies. All right, let's go, but we can't be long."

Gonflet jumped up and down, then began pulling his mother with him to the bridge that crossed the river. Normally he would just go with a group of his friends, but after the last stunt pulled by the rowdy Dibbuns, they had been ordered to stay at one parent's side for a whole day. They crossed the bridge, but found that there weren't very many berries there.

Gonflet tugged his mother's paw impatiently. "Come on, Mama, let's go further down the river." Columbine followed her son through the trees, picking berries off the bushes they passed. Gonflet started to get restless, and she played a game with him that involved much spinning and running. It was dark by the time Columbine remembered that she wanted to be home for her husband.

"Gonflet, we must start back now. It's later than I thought." She turned to go, and then realized she had absolutely no idea which way they had come. "Gonflet, do you remember which way we came?"

Her son shook his head. "No, but let's just go this way. If we follow the river, we're bound to come to someplace familiar soon." As she had no other solution, Columbine shrugged doubtfully and began to follow her son through the trees by the riverbank.

Floptail was beginning to despair. The ferret had been straining his eyes to catch sight of any land he could find, but all he saw was an endless sea of blue. Floptail wiped his eyes nervously. The hour was almost up. He turned back out to the water and jumped with excitement. Then he realized it was probably just an illusion. He wiped his eyes again, but the image was still there.

He called over a large weasel. "Wartnose, mate, come take a look over here. What do you see?" The weasel strolled over and looked where the ferret pointed.

"What do you mean, what do I see? I see a big idiot from right here. It's land, you ninny!"

The ferret pushed Wartnose away. "You don't have to be so snippy about it. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't seein' things."

The weasel snorted. "You're not seein' things at all, mate. You just missed seein' a big chunk o' land, didn't you?" The weasel swaggered away, muttering to himself. Floptail was about to call out an insult, then realized what it was he was supposed to be doing. Leaping up, he started to run to the captain's cabin, and then checked himself, slowing to a casual walk. He knocked as boldly as he dared on the door, and then heard the gruff answer. "Come in."

Floptail pushed open the door to find his captain seated on his throne-like chair. The sea rat stared at the ferret with his one good eye. "Cutting it a bit close to the deadline, aren't we, Floptail?" the captain said casually to the ferret. Floptail was about to make an excuse when the sea rat interrupted him. "Never mind, have you seen land?"

Floptail bobbed his head up and down. "Yes, sir, there's a large piece of land over to the---"

"Silence." The captain's voice was deathly quiet. "Take us there."

Floptail nodded again, this time more vigorously than before. "Yes sir."

"Dismissed." The captain's voice remained at its low, dangerous tone. Floptail turned quickly, almost slamming into the door. When he finally managed to walk through it safely and close it behind him, the captain sighed. His crew was nothing but dunderheads. They were a doddering bunch of idiots. Still, he thought with a smile, at least they get the job done. He felt the ship change direction slightly and grinned, contented by the prospect of a raid. When the sea rat felt his ship hit shallow water, he left his cabin and walked out on deck to survey the land. What he saw was a long sandy beach which turned into forest. He frowned. There didn't seem to be any creatures in the immediate vicinity. He looked to one side, squinted into the distance, and smiled. Not too far off he could see what was almost certainly a river. He gave the order to his crew to take the ship to the river, and they obeyed without question. When they were near enough, the captain looked out again. The river was deep and wide and wide enough to allow the ship to travel on it. He gave an order to Floptail to take the ship down the river for a distance, and then have some crewmembers travel along the banks and in the forest to search for creatures and their homes. The captain then retreated to the comfort of his cabin. The sea rat smiled as he sat down to await the benefits of the raid.

It had grown quite a bit darker when Columbine stopped her son. "Gonflet, did you hear that?"

Gonflet shook his head. "I didn't hear anything."

Columbine sighed. "It probably was just the wind. Let's keep goi—!" She was cut off as a weasel dropped out of the tree onto her, forcing her to the ground. She turned and saw the same thing happening to Gonflet.

"Quiet, woodlander," the weasel snarled. He turned to the stoat that sat on the struggling Gonflet. "Hoi there, Snaptooth, how'd you think the cap'n would like some nice woodlander for supper?"

The stoat grinned back. "Why, Droopear, do you have to ask? The cap'n always likes a meal o' tasty woodland creatures. He leaned closer to Gonflet. "Especially little mice." He gave Gonflet's paw a rough twist, and a bit of blood came away as it scraped against a branch.

"Ow, you're hurting me!" Gonflet cried out, his voice trembling with both fear and anger. Columbine couldn't help herself.

"You leave my Gonflet alone, you big—" The insult to come was interrupted as both weasel and stoat leaned close and stared at her.

"Your son's name is Gonflet, you say?" the weasel asked.

The stoat leaned even closer. "Would that be short for Gonff, by any chance?" His voice was deadly quiet.

Columbine glared at them both. "What's it to you?"

"Oh, it's plenty, my pretty mouse. Hey, Snaptooth, how 'bout we take 'em back to the cap'n right now? I think he'd be delighted to see 'em."

The stoat gave a fearsome grin. "Oh, I agree, mate."
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